Vista View Closeout and Shade Repair

[Kyle D.]

So I have finally gotten around to repairing my vista view windows on my '74 Sovereign. Big thanks to Panama Red's step by step post he did (http://www.airforums.com/forums/f454...ign-96251.html).
I'll post more on my progress with that later.

While removing my old windows and cleaning the window frame of all the old butyl tape and caulking, I started to realize that I will also need to repair all of the vista view closeout and pull down shades. All seem to be broken and they are all brittle and fragile. Has any one made any repairs to these? I was going to use epoxy to try and repair them and try to repaint them. Then I wonder if it's even worth the trouble or should I just get rid of them? I have attached a couple photos to show what I'm talking about. Let me know what you think?

[Minno]

That's too bad. Ours weren't cracked in half like that. I would think epoxy and fiberglass would do the trick to repair them. Sand the surface to give some teeth for the epoxy to adhere to, and build up the back side with a couple of layers of fiberglass to hold it all together. Avoid using fiberglass in the channel where the shade slides up and down. You should probably test the adhesion of the epoxy to the plastic on the back side to make sure it's going to stick and hold.

I think you'll want to keep the shades. The vista view's let a lot of light and solar heat in, so you'll want some way to block that.

Chris